Alan Cumming

Macbeth' was the first play I ever read. In fact, I remember my brother Tom, who is six years older than me, coming home from school and telling me about it. He was the one that really got me going.

Pantomime is a big thing in the cultural calendar of my country, you know. So subtlety's not my forte.

I was so scared of going back to the theatre after 'Hamlet.' I didn't know if I'd do a play again because I was afraid of the power of it.

Once in a while it's good to challenge yourself in a way that's really daunting.

Performing a one-man Macbeth feels like the greatest challenge.

I started to itch to do a play again and 'Macbeth' came to the surface in my mind. I never thought I would do it in a conventional way. A sweaty Macbeth with blood on his arms coming in fresh from the battle doesn't interest me.

A sweaty Macbeth with blood on his arms coming in fresh from the battle doesn't interest me.

In my first year at drama school, I did this kids' show called 'Let's See.'

Kids are more genuine. When they come up and want to talk to you, they don't have an agenda. It's more endearing and less piercing to your aura.

When you're on TV, you come into people's homes. In theater and film, they go to you - to the temple of the cinema or theater. And it's very different.

I like working on things that are very different and that involve different disguises.

You'll see Dame Judi Dench in a Bond film, in Shakespeare and then starring in her own sitcom. You never see that here with Meryl Streep.